New Acquisitions

The generous support of many Hamburg citizens, their donations and bequests have made the MKG what it is today: one of the leading museums of applied arts in Europe with approximately 500.000 objects in its collections spanning 4000 years. The reliable patronage of long-term partners enables the MKG to continue to extend its holdings. The historical collections are supported by the Campe’sche historische Kunststiftung through regular acquisitions of works from early periods. Thus it added a new focus to the Antiquities department in 2009. A living collection must continue to grow into the present. Since their founding museums of applied arts in particular, have been keen to react to contemporary developments. In 2009 the “new chairs for the MKG”-project initiated by the Stiftung für die Hamburger Kunstsammlungen greatly advanced the collection of contemporary design. Author-design and contemporary arts and crafts are a focus of the Justus-Brinckmann-Gesellschaft. In addition to the supporting foundations, personal donations provide the collections with valued highlights. Thus the MKG’s collection becomes increasingly dense, a great narrative of human creativity and inventiveness from Antiquity to the Present relating directly to the world of its visitor.